The Secret to Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is not an acid at all – it’s actually a powerful sugar molecule that pulls water to itself and holds it there.

Your body is full of hyaluronic acid – it’s in your skin, joints, connective tissues, eyes… Babies have a ton of hyaluronic acid – that’s why they’re so soft and lovely to touch.

Hyaluronic acid formulated for injectable gels is structurally identical to the natural HA in your skin – it’s just formulated in a lab instead. The fillers used for adding volume to cheeks, folds, wrinkles, lips, chins and under eye hollows all work by attracting and binding water to form a “jelly like” gel that feels and acts like the natural hyaluronic acid in your skin!

Swelling Happens

When a filler is first placed in the skin, it’s like a kid given access to a candy counter – the HA molecules pull in lots of water very quickly. Thus, the quick swelling that is seen from injections in some areas (not all).

Initial swelling is a temporary overabundance of water – not too much filler!

A natural equalizing process will occur over the next days and any overly abundant swelling will go away. So if you have lip injections and worry that you’ll look like the fish in the bowl, you can stop worrying.

Every body is different and every person will have varying degrees of swelling after hyaluronic filler injections. If it looks like you are a super-sweller, then cold compresses will help take things down.

On the outside chance that your body likes to hold on to more water than you like the look of, Dr. Pilest can dissolve some of the HA and adjust the look for you. Usually, though, when initial swelling goes away, 99.99% of patients are fully satisfied.